Because it is festive:

What better way to close out Christmas than by watching...LIVE!, or as you may remember it, that movie about an insane reality/game show in which people play Russian roulette on network TV with real guns & bullets.

Now that is how you do a thriller. Talk about INTENSE. By the time they got the show up and rolling, I was a nervous, nauseated, shaking wreck. I had my eyes squeezed shut every time someone picked up the gun, totally unable to watch for fear of gruesome visuals. I couldn't even watch this game on Numb3rs, and I knew network TV would sanitize things for me. An R-rated movie I most certainly did not trust.

The film as a whole does a surprisingly good job of explaining the descent into madness that allows this game to get on TV, even as you're shaking your head in open-mouthed disbelief. And then I felt guilty, because even by enjoying this fictional film, wasn't I buying into the same kind of bloodlust? NO, BUT, I am pretty sure I would not support people ACTUALLY KILLING THEMSELVES...right? The plausibility faltered a little at the end, but even that was still chilling.

I mean, you assumed that once someone actually shot themselves, Katy would finally realize what horror she had facilitated -- but you didn't expect that she would be the only one.

Seriously, watching Rex's eyes burn with unrecognizable excitement as the audience cheered at the end of the show - dead guy what? PEOPLE WON MONEY, WOOOOO! - was scary. And by the time the movie ended - with not only the unbelievable insistence that there was no link at all between the show and Katie's murder, but that "Live!" had become an ANNUAL SPECIAL and good ol' Rex was working for the network now - I wanted to cry at the baffling horror of society's acceptance.

*shudders violently* So awful. It was like, scary, 1984-horrible. Only worse because it wasn't any kind of futuristic society at all, it was just our modern, reality-TV-crazed audience. It took me a long time to fall asleep.

But on the bright side, David Krumholtz was lovely, and as a bonus I made off with about seven useful scenes to transpose for Charlie in my mental playground, so I'd have to say it was well worth not only the viewing, but the buy. I may watch it again today, just because I don't think my brain was able to absorb the full spectrum of emotions the first time around.

In other words, yeah: I'm pretty happy about my decision to throw over The Office for this. Or I will be happy, once I get over the lingering urge to go throw up. (seriously, this story got to me. Possibly I should not have watched it all by myself at midnight)